Molly Ketterling is of Irish, Germans-from-Russia, and Portuguese decent. She is from the small town of Elgin, North Dakota. She grew up on the family farm and spent many of her summer vacations riding horses and going to the lake with her family. She has a twin brother, an older sister, as well as a half-brother and half-sister. The Ketterlings were among the first families to use In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in North Dakota.

Since her parents were unable to have children, her mother’s good friend from the army decided to give them some of her eggs so that the Ketterlings could have children of their own. Thanks to this, Molly’s entire family and both of her mothers were able to watch Molly’s crowning moment as Miss North Dakota USA 2015 in November. It was Molly’s fourth time competing in the pageant. Molly was finally able to break her first runner-up streak after being named first runner-up for Miss Teen North Dakota USA in 2012, 2013, and first runner-up for Miss North Dakota USA 2014 last year.

Molly was an honor student throughout high school and loved being involved in her FFA chapter, drama, choir, and National Honor Society. She also worked as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool.

Molly is now a student at Bismarck State College where she is studying business and dreams of one day becoming a pageant coach and makeup artist. During this summer Molly was chosen as a winner to go to Mexico in November for the filming of the first season of The Fashion Hero, which is a television show that seeks to change the standards of the modeling world and prove that every day people are just as qualified to model for international brands, such as Johnathan Kayne, as high-fashion models are. It was one of Molly’s favorite experiences.